An account of the subterranean (hypogean) fishes with a bibliography from 1436.

Garra barreimiae

Garra barreimiae was described from epigean specimens in 1956 in Oman. In May 1980 A. Dunsire and M. Gallagher discovered and collected specimens of an eyeless and depigmented fish from a cave in Oman. Banister (1984) provided a brief account of these fishes, and others collected later, and concluded that they were conspecific with G. barreimiae. The following details apply only to the cave-dwelling members of the species.

Khalaf-Sakerfalke von Jaffa (2009) provided an account of a blind cave fish from Wadi Al Wurayah, Emirate of Fujairah, UAE, which he called Garra barreimiae wurayahi Khalaf 2009. Eschmeyer, Fricke, and van der Laan (2018) comment: "Name apparently not available from this description, as no types designated (ICZN Art. 16.4) and no differentiating diagnosis or description given (ICZN Art. 13.1.1). Name needs subsequent validation". It seems unlikley that this is a real subterranean fish.

Synonyms

None.

Country

Oman

Types

Of the cave-dwelling form:

BMNH 1980.11.27:2-115; 1981.6.29:5-14; 1981.9.28:2-6 (The accession numbers in Banister (1984) do not correspond with the numbers in the main register at the BMNH. The latter are used here)

Distribution

Banister (1984) records that the fishes he examined were obtained from a cave on the southern flank of the Jabal Akhdar mountains, 9km ESE of Al Hamra, Oman (23o05'N, 57o21'E). This location corresponds exactly with Kahf Hoti (also known as Al Hoota Cave), the most extensive cave in the Jabal Akhdar. Details of the cave, with survey, are provided by Waltham, Brown and Middleton (1985) who comment that large numbers of fishes were present in lakes in the cave. Banister (1984) reports that other subterranean populations of Garra species have been discovered in Oman but he discloses neither the location nor the identity of these fishes. This species is also found in a closely related cave the Hoti Pit (Kirchner et al. 2017).

Habitat

The fishes live in a number of large deep lakes within the cave. The main population is in Fish Lake which receives input from a mineral rich inlet of warm water. The cave carries flood water perhaps twice a year and this presumably brings in food from outside. The fishes can migrate upstream (Figs. 1-4 below) but what initiates this migration is not known.

Systematics

Banister (1984:928) records: "The degree of character concordance between the epigean Garra barreimiae and the hypogean specimens strongly suggests that the two populations are conspecific". In a previous paper (Banister and Clarke 1977:132 - 138) two subspecies of G. barreimiae were erected, the nominotypical and G. b. shawkahensis (based on the number of gill rakers and the position of the pelvic fin). The hypogean fishes are assigned to neither of these nor to a new one. No figures for the diagnostic characters are given in Banister (1984) and further study is obviously required. Wilkens (pers. comm.) has successfully cross-bred the cave and surface G. barreimiae, which, under the Biological Species Concept, suggests that they are a single taxon. However, there are bound to be major differences in ecology and competitive abilities between the epigean and hypogean morphotypes (see discussion under Astyanax jordaniand their conspecificity should not be assumed as solid without further, probably DNA, studies. G. barreimiae is a member of the monophyletic group termed labeine cyprinids by Reid (1978, 1982). Two other cave dwelling species, Garra widdowsoni andGarratyphlops are also members of this group. See also Howes (1991) who places this lineage in the subfamily Cyprininae.

Hamidan, Geiger and Freyhof (2014) suggest that this taxon may actually be Garra longipinnis Banister and Clarke 1977 as this is known from the Jabal al Akhdar . Further investigations are required to confirm this (Jorg Freyhof pers. comm. 02/2018)

R (IUCN, 1990), R (IUCN, 1993), VU D2 (IUCN, 1996, 2000). There are now captive populations at (at least) Chester Zoo (Graham Proudlove pers. obs.) and Bristol Zoo (Chris Smart, pers. comm.), UK, and at the Zoologisches Institut und Museum in Hamburg, Germany (Jacob Parzefall pers. comm.). The Chester Zoo population bred in July 1991 (Banister, Bell and Crumpler 1992). Waltham, Brown and Middleton (1985) studied the area around the Hoti cave extensively and concluded that it is unique in that area. There may therefore be no other suitable habitats for cave fishes for many kilometres and the population in Khaf Hoti may very well be the only one.

Museum Holdings

There must be preserved specimens at Chester and Bristol zoos in the UK and at the Zoologisches Institut und Museum in Hamburg.